Accomplishment
by ardavenport
Summary: One harried bureaucrat gets great satisfaction with helping two Jedi visitors.


**ACCOMPLISHMENT**

by ardavenport

* * *

Everywhere she looked, Timel Kraf saw nothing but poodoo.

It had started as soon as she got into work, even before she had her morning cup of skash.

Four purchase requests had been returned, each one accompanied by a different, incomprehensible demand for more coded minutiae.

She was overdue for her annual mandatory training about proper embassy senior staff protocol with expatriate Republic citizens. Now that reminder would blink incessantly in the bottom corner of her screen until she selected a session to attend.

There were two-hundred and sixty-two (!) new missives in her inbox. Dozens of them were repeated sales offers from a local low-life that the tech droids had still not managed to block from the embassy's internal text-coms.

Four missives were from the assistant ambassador, reminders about the latest employee survey that had less than 20% response from Timel's department so far.

One missive announced that the fourteenth floor cooling unit had failed its safety inspection for both lack of cleanliness and an unacceptable accumulation of out-of-date food packets and the owners were requested to come dispose of them. Timel had a sinking feeling that she had forgotten a half-eaten lunch and everyone would know it was hers since she was the only Quermian assigned to that unit.

There were the weekly updates of the work of the Transmissions Committee, the Local Office Support Committee and the Transport Morale Committee for those shuttling between inner core worlds and the outer Rim sectors.

For some reason the Office Space Committee wanted her to send them the office dimensions and the outlet numbers for the terminal, holo-com, internal, external and off-world coms for everyone in her department who worked on the 3rd and 6th floors of the embassy.

The assistant ambassador wanted her to send her a log of all the times she had worked on the case of a local lawsuit against a Republic art importer.

There were four holo-messages from people that Timel did not want to talk to.

And now, an annoying red box flashed in the middle of her terminal screen with a reminder for her to change her security passwords.

Timel threw her upper arms in the air and hugged her lower ones around her middle under her robe. Even by her standards, this was an exceptional load of poodoo. Did Assistant Ambassador Heffcray ever expect her to get any real work done? Did anyone even remember that she was supposed to be a diplomat? That she was supposed to be in charge of the office responsible for aiding Republic citizens in distress? And if something big happened, beyond her staff's authority, was she supposed to just tell them that their emergency needed to wait while she took care of all this excreta?

"Mmm-mmm."

The deliberate grunting rumble from behind interrupted her silent outrage. Timel turned her head. The visitors, two of them, had simply walked into her office. Behind them, her assistant peered around the doorway, her eyes wide and nervous. Perhaps she had a decent reason for that.

The two visitors were Jedi.

Long, shapeless brown robes, distinctively plain loose clothes, heavy boots and conspicuous silver and black cylindrical lightsabers on their belts.

If they were not Jedi, they could have been arrested on the spot for impersonating them.

These two were adult Human males. One much larger and older, broad and muscular in the shoulders; long brown hair, a little faded in places, hung down from his huge Human head. Wiry hair sprouted from his upper lip and on his chin, his enormous protruding nose bulged slightly on one side and he had very deep blue eyes. The smaller one had short brown hair with a long thin woven tail of it hanging down off his head on one side.

The larger one politely inclined his head to her. Even though he was tall for a Human, standing, he was still only at her eye level with her sitting.

"I am told that I must speak to you about procuring a ship, Director Kraf."

Behind them, she could see other people through her clear-plas office walls peering their way.

_What else could happen, today?_

She lifted her head high, glowering back at this new problem. Now people were walking into her office expecting her to drop everything to procure ships for them?

_Oh, and you want to do my job for me, too? Perhaps take this useless training for me? Find all these trivial numbers for all these people who have nothing better to do than keep me from doing my job . . . ._

"We would be most appreciative of your assistance. My Padawan and I are rather pressed for time." The taller Jedi raised a patronizing, lecturing hand to her.

Timel blinked. Her head swiveled back to her screen with it's collection of glowing and blinking, time-wasting annoyances.

_I'm starting to think like them. This is my job._

Upper hands on the transpari-slab top of her desk, she smoothly pushed herself up out of her chair, towering over the two Jedi. She extended her left, upper hand to him.

"I am required to ask for your credentials."

Annoyed impatience in his very blue eyes - - _oh, you have no idea how bad it can be for the rest of us, Jedi _- - he produced an ID chit from a belt pouch.

She passed it over her desk scanner and all the poodoo from that morning was wiped away - - even the blinking reminder about her mandatory training - - replaced by confirmation of the Jedi's identity, Master Qui-Gon Jinn, and a declaration of priority that went all the way up to the Senate of the Galactic Republic. He could even out-rank the embassy's ambassador if he wanted to.

"What type of ship do you require, Master Jedi?"

Jinn's lips curved upward in a satisfied smile. "A large cruiser, if one is available. With two shuttles, a docking bay, and substantial cargo holds. My droid can give you the specs." He stepped aside and she looked down at a rather well worn green and white astro-mech. The squat machine bleeped a stream of chirps before displaying a holo-image above its dome of ship types.

A smile touched Timel's lips. The ambassador's official yacht would be perfect. She was sequestered in high level meetings all day, too. No reason to bother her now about this.

"Please follow me." Holding the Jedi's chit aloof, Timel glided out of her office. Her assistant, tried to stop her with reminders of her waiting messages. Timel waved the Jedi's chit before her like a wand of power and she stopped, staring at it.

"This takes priority, Brissa. I shall be unavailable until at least second meal. Possibly the whole day."

Timel caught the Jedi Master exchanging looks with his 'Padawan' out of the corner of her eye. Presumably this was his apprentice or some kind of Jedi-in-training. He was young, more than a head shorter than his Master with less mature features for a Human.

Sweeping out of their office suite, Timel led the Jedi to the bank of lifts that led to the embassy's ship bay. She held the Jedi's chit up aloft between two slender fingers as their car descended. The Jedi did not seem in any hurry to get it back and she was glad. It was her talisman, more power to actually _do_ something than she could ever aspire to in her meager, but sometimes satisfying career. She would savor it.

Their car stopped at a transfer level, the doors opening, revealing one of the people who Timel did not want to speak to.

"Ah, Director, if I may - -"

She waved the Jedi's chit before his eyes, stopping him from entering the lift. She extended one lower arm to the lift controls.

"So sorry. Jedi business. Please take the next car." The doors closed in his face. And Timel was not sorry at all. Their car sped sideways to the ship bay where she led the Jedi to the Supervisor of Ships in his small office, grumbling over a morning snack, thick crumbs still sticking to his snout.

"So sorry to interrupt, D'most, but Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn here requires the use of the ambassador's yacht. It is fueled and ready as usual, is it not?"

He stared back at her, mouth agape, half-chewed food visible among his stubby, yellowed teeth. It was quite disgusting.

"Well – hrrrph-hrrrph – Director Kraf, of course the ship is ready – hrrrrph-hrr-hrrrph – but I don't think you have the authority – "

"This is all the authority you will need."

She waved Qui-Gon Jinn's ID chit before his eyes and then gave his desk computer scanner a swipe. It cleared the daily screen clutter from his computer as effectively as it had for hers.

He squinted at it and then peered around her at the two Jedi who were right behind her in his tiny office.

"Well, hrrrr-mmpp-hrr-hrrmmph, I suppose that this is in order."

The legs of his chair screeched loudly as he pushed himself back and got up, maneuvering his large bulk around his desk. The Jedi backed out of the office first to let him pass. Gleaming silver, the Supervisor of Ship's protocol droid hurried to him. He ordered it to have the crew of the ambassador's yacht to make the ship ready for departure.

It was all happening so quickly; the thrill of accomplishment. Finally, she was getting something done! But she knew her freedom was only an illusion. As soon as she had tended to the Jedi, they would be gone, all that poodoo back on her office computer would land on her twice as hard. But she would enjoy the liberation the Jedi had brought to her like the gift that it was.

Perhaps she could make it last a little longer.

"Do you have any other needs besides the ship?"

The lines of hair over Master Jinn's eyes rose in a thoughtful expression. He glanced down at his apprentice, who seemed to have nothing the contribute, and then to his astro-mech.

"My droid has a complete list of our needs, if you wish to download it. But we will only take what can procured immediately. Our time is extremely limited."

The Supervisor of Ships hrrmphed and grumbled as the droid plugged into a wall input and the Jedi's needs lit up the data screen on the dingy wall above it.

It was quite impressive:

- Fifty-seven aquatic life tanks

- Eight XG-zoh-five plasma generators

- Two-thousand-and-fifty high density power packs

- Twelve-hundred and eighty-five long-wavelength light units

- Two-hundred binary lifters

- Ten KR7 (or better) astro-mechs

- Three protocol droids with multi-level fauna management programming

- Four thousand 10-bir empty bottles (with self-sealing caps)

- Two 2500-zakir droid scoops with extra rock-crushing blades

- Six-hundred-and-seventy 94-sir length spools of flat tubing

- Five-hundred 4000-zakir bins of high density mulo-pellets

- One-hundred-and-sixty 30-by-9-sir eight-level, self-assembling racks

- Eight thousand tacks

- Seventy-thousand datarie

- Ninety-two portable fresher units

- Two-hundred hand-held coms

- One wide-area sound-com with at least extension units

- Fourteen-hundred large liquid nutrient bladders

There was a long list of sundry other much smaller items, but Timel's calculating mind estimated that the ambassador's yacht could handle it, if some of its passenger volume was converted to cargo. The crew could handle that while the supplies were assembled. The embassy maintained extensive warehouses of supplies for various reasons; tribute, storage, emergency relief missions (for which the yacht came in handy – it never hurt for the Galactic Republic to be seen as a generous benefactor to systems in need),

Eyes open wide, mouth open, the Jedi's apprentice seemed disturbed by the list scrolling down the screen.

"Master, do we have time f- -"

"Obi-Wan." Master Jinn touched his apprentice's shoulder and he immediately closed his mouth, though worry increased in his eyes.

Master Jinn raised a conciliatory hand. "Whatever you can supply by midday will be most appreciated. I'm sure the ambassador will approve."

Timel really did not think that was possible (especially after the ambassador found her ship gone) but she did not care. The Jedi was her god, her savior with a shining ID chit that could vanquish the most stubborn and entrenched bureaucracy. She waved it with reckless abandon as she commed her assistant, then the Property Manager and forwarded the list with rush priority for it to be delivered to the embassy's ship bay. The best part was seeing the changes in each low-level administrator's face when she forwarded the Jedi's ID along with the requests. Glorious.

When they were done, Timel led the Jedi to the largest ship bay. The Ambassador's yacht, the _Chedos Triangle_, towered over them, blue with yellow and white striping. The captain and six-person crew of the Ambassador's yacht were still busy converting interior spaces for cargo just as the first containers arrived and Timel let them handle the loading; there was no reason for her to know or care about the details of ship cargoes. Nor did she care to wonder what the Jedi wanted to do with all that stuff, or the ship; Jedi had the Republic for a thousand years with never a scandal or abuse of power, though their methods were notoriously eccentric.

The Jedi stayed with her, silently supervising the activity; their astro-mech beeped some indecipherable droid commentary as new things arrived. Timel's sense of accomplishment grew as each big loader droid rolled up the ship's rear ramp.

Master Jinn occasionally suggested additions (they could expect a maximum of forty passengers and possibly a dozen prisoners) and Timel passed the changes on to the crew. The younger Jedi fidgeted a bit, but otherwise obeyed his Master's command to keep silent.

The sun was just reaching it's zenith when the work was finally done.

Master Jinn bowed low to her, his long brownish hair hanging down below his head. His tight-lipped apprentice did the same.

"Thank-you for your assistance, Director. I shall certainly report favorably on your help to the Jedi Council."

Lowering her head in return, Timel thanked him for the formality that did not matter to her nearly as much as the sheer fun of getting something of substance accomplished for once.

The Jedi and their astro-mech followed the captain and crew into the ship, the engines started and the ramp retracted, the outer hatch sliding closed. The ship slowly lifted off, the landing gear disappearing into the blue hull as it cleared the dock area. It hung in the air, slowly drifting upward for a moment before suddenly speeding upward with a boom of acceleration.

She stood gazing up into the clear bluish-purple sky for a time, savoring the fading remains of her exploits.

"Kraf!"

The Ambassador's bellow banished the last of the glow and Timel turned to give her superior a neutral greeting.

"What have you been doing? Moctrin tells me that you practically emptied the embassy warehouses," she demanded, the hem of her layered white robe swishing around her ankles with her angry gestures.

Timel lifted her upper right hand, the Jedi's ID chit still firmly held between two long fingers. Master Jinn had not asked for it back. She had neglected to remind him that she still had it. But it was absolutely no good to her without his presence. And he could have it replaced and have an order sent for it to be destroyed after he returned to Coruscant. Until that order came she would keep it as a talisman of this morning.

She waved Master Jinn's ID chit, the ambassador's eyes going cross-eyed as it passed in front of her face. But the magic was gone with the Jedi.

"You – you – you idiot! You let some Jedi come in here and mind-trick you out of half-the embassy! And my ship, too! Idiots! I have idiots working for me!" The ambassador whirled about and stomped off, pushing her aides out of the way.

Timel looked down at the ID chit, Master Qui-Gon Jinn's hairy face placidly staring back at her. Mind-tricked? Was that what the ambassador thought had happened? Of course, the Jedi could do that; it was one of their powers and legal by law in the Galactic Republic or in any of its embassies.

No, the Jedi could _not_ have mind-tricked her; Timel was sure of that. But . . . .

. . . . it was a great excuse.

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**o**o**o END o**o**o**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **This story will be posted on tf.n on whenever they get the new boards up after 28-May-2012 - a work in progress since 2012 . All characters and the Star Wars universe belong to George and Lucasfilm; I am just playing in their sandbox.


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